Sinister War: Marvel Announces New Spider-Man Spin-off Series

Spinning out of the pages of this week's Amazing Spider-Man #64, Marvel has officially announced a new series that will begin this summer, Sinister War! Though the final pages of the today's release only hint at what we can expect, Marvel.Com has the full run down revealing that the new series will be penned by Amazing Spider-Man writer Nick Spencer with art by none other than Mark Bagley. Not only that but the series will have dueling Sinister Six teams fighting each other with Doctor Octopus's Sinister Six going up against the Vulture's Savage Six.

Marvel says the waging villain teams will be "in a war that puts all of New York City in the crossfire." The new series will also apparently see "the grand return of Doctor Octopus," who has been dead for years but with his consciousness embedded inside a Jackal created clone (comics folks, remember that!). In a statement on the series, editor Nick Lowe said: "Nick Spencer always goes big, and this is his biggest story yet through this series and the concurrent issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, so clear some room on your 'Best Comics Ever' shelf."

Sinister War begins with its debut issue on July 14, but the action will continue throughout the pages of Amazing Spider-Man as well.

Characters that appear in the cover art include Doctor Octopus, Vulture, The Lizard, Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, Hydroman, Rhino, Scorpion, and Tarantula, plus some more obscure picks like King Cobra and Stegron the Dinosaur Man. A variant cover by Bryan Hitch reveals other villains as well that could appear including Rhino, Electro, Taskmaster, Jack O'Lantern, and even Lady Octopus. Check out all the released cover images below!

The official solicitation for Sinister War #1 reads:

"DOCTOR OCTOPUS IS BACK! AND THE SINISTER WAR HAS BEGUN! Ock's got a new Sinister Six and if you think he's thought big in the past, think again. What Ock DOESN'T know is that the VULTURE has a sextet of his own: THE SAVAGE SIX! It's an all-out WAR between two of the greatest villains in the Marvel Universe, and the only person they hate more than each other is SPIDER-MAN! Spidey's in deep trouble with the toughest battle that he's ever faced. Nick Spencer and Mark Bagley team up for this epic Spider-Man story guaranteed to shock readers everywhere!"